Contents

Executed by performing two full-circle motions in either direction and pressing punch, Zangief attempts to grab his opponent. If successful, he gets behind his opponent with his head under the arm and performs an incredibly powerful Belly-to-Back Suplex. Still in position, Zangief keeps adding pressure to his opponent that has enough power to forcibly drive them through the ground and into a small crater.

If the opponent is knocked out during the move, the opponent will continue to lay motionless inside the crater, with their legs comically sticking up from the ground.

Like most Critical Arts, this move is used to end combos to deal large amounts of damage to the opponent. The Bolshoi Russian Suplex can be only be canceled from a few of Zangief's normals. This move also has the fastest Critical Art in the game with only 1 frame of startup and 2 frames of activation. This makes it one of Zangief's go-to move for any kind of punishes, or as a follow-up after a Crush Counter hit.. He can even surprise his opponent by activating this move on wakeup. Additionally, because this move is technically a grab, it cannot be blocked. Regardless, his opponent only has 3 frames to avoid the Critical Art, or suffer a tremendous amount of damage.

This move is arguably based on a popular professional wrestling move called the Belly-to-Back Suplex, or commonly know as the Back Suplex.

Zangief's Bolshoi Russian Suplex is one of a few Critical Arts where the opponent's legs are sticking out of the ground if the move results in a knockout. The other's include Birdie's Skip To My Chain, and Alex's Heavy Hammer.